Spool out the winch cable until it’s down to the last layer on the drum.

Now find a good anchor point way out in front of the vehicle. Open the snatch-block pulley and run the cable around the pulley. Close the snatch block and use your “tree-saver strap” and shackle (clevis) to secure it around the anchor point.

Now bring the winch cable back to your vehicle and attach the cable’s hook it to a tow hook on the frame or winch bumper. Try the winch again.

Snatch block setups to improve the mechanical advantage of a pickup winch.

By bringing the winch cable back to the vehicle with the winch, you’ve just effectively doubled the winch’s pulling power.

This also works if the winching vehicle is also the anchor point, i.e., you are winching another vehicle out of a big stuck.

Note: Attaching the hook-end of the winch cable to any other vehicle or anchor DOES NOT increase pulling power—it just changes the direction of the pull.